I write contemporary romance—”Fun-filled fiction with heart”. My first two books, There Must Be an Angel and A Kiss from a Rose, are the first half of the Kearton Bay series, set in a fictional village on the North Yorkshire coast, inspired by Robin Hood’s Bay. I’ve also had a People’s Friend pocket novel published recently. I’m one tenth of the Write Romantics, a blogger, a sugar addict, a Whovian, and I’m shamefully prone to getting huge crushes on gorgeous actors.

Ah! How would you describe yourself as a colour?

I’d love to say I’m a deep, mysterious, purple kind of person, or a sexy midnight blue or something. If I’m being honest, though, I’m definitely a pastel person. I can’t stay too serious for too long, and I do tend to see the lighter side of everything. Having said that, I do get my deep and meaningful moments, so maybe I’m baby pink with a purple streak, or powder blue with a flash of midnight?

Sounds lovely. If you could morph into any creature what would it be?

Does this have to be a real creature, or can it be mythical? Because if I’m allowed to be a mythical creature, I’d love to be Pegasus, because I love horses and he can fly! Imagine having wings and being able to soar away, going anywhere you want to go. I hope I’m allowed to be a mythical creature, because otherwise I’d have to be a wasp or a dragonfly or a sparrow or something, and they’re just not as pretty as even ordinary horses—let alone horses with wings.

Pegasus is perfect. What kind of music do you listen to, Sharon?

I listen to lots of different music. It really depends on my mood. I love Queen, Fleetwood Mac, Abba, most seventies music, some eighties music, power ballads, light pop, classical, Enya, Clannad, even some of the modern stuff, despite being positively ancient. My all-time favourite album is Hounds of Love by Kate Bush. I could listen to that over and over, particularly the Ninth Wave section. Not sure I could pick out one favourite song as that changes frequently.

Let’s talk about your writing now. Which of your own releases was your particular favourite?

I’ve discovered that my favourite book is always the one I’ve just finished, and my least favourite book is always the one I’m working on at the time. I love all my characters in their own way, and I am completely in love with my heroes. However, I have to admit to having a soft spot for the badly-behaved ones. They’re such fun to write. I loved writing Harry in There Must Be an Angel, Maisie in A Kiss from a Rose, and, in book three, there are a few characters that are so awful they fill me with delight. Maybe I’m just a bit weird.

Hahaha! When crafting the story do you go from beginning to end, or do you jump around writing the scenes that are pushing themselves forward in your brain?

I generally go from beginning to end, but if I’m in one of my “I can’t think of a single thing to say” moods when I don’t even want to switch on the computer, and I’m in danger of throwing a giant strop, I talk myself round by allowing myself to write a scene that I’ve been looking forward to. It’s guaranteed to get the fingers tapping, the brain cells working, and the inspiration flowing again.

That’s a good tactic. Have your characters ever taken the story in a different direction than you had originally planned?

Oh, yes! For a start, A Kiss from a Rose wasn’t supposed to happen at all. Rose MacLean was supposed to be a secondary character, and she was never meant to have her own book. While I was writing There Must Be an Angel, however, she just leapt out at me and demanded her own story. I must say, she was quite a handful. I couldn’t think who would be able to cope with her, but funnily enough, it was the quiet man of Kearton Bay who ended up being just perfect for her. I thought I knew what would happen to those two, but then Flynn turned out to have a secret that I honestly had no idea about when I started writing. As if that wasn’t enough, Rose did something that really threw a spanner in the works and changed the entire course of the book. I had absolutely no idea that was going to happen when I started writing. I really did feel that Rose and Flynn wrote that book themselves. Yes, I know that sounds a bit odd, but that’s what happened.

Wonderful! Is location important in your books?

Location is extremely important to me. You wouldn’t believe how many locations I tried to set the Kearton Bay novels in or how many names I gave that village. It was only when I visited Robin Hood’s Bay, for the first time in years, that I realised that right there was the perfect setting for my books. Everything about the village was just right, and now, when I go back there, it’s so easy to imagine my characters walking those streets, climbing that fearsomely steep hill, or sitting outside the pub looking out to sea. Yorkshire is my home and I love it, and so far I’ve set everything I’ve written there, but I do have an idea for a new series and it will be set somewhere else entirely—simply because that’s what suits the stories. That will be an interesting experience!

So, what are you working on now, Sharon? Would you like to share anything about it?

I’ve just sent my third full-length novel to my beta readers, so it’s a question of waiting for their verdict and trying not to be too nervous. It’s not a Kearton Bay novel, and it’s told from the viewpoints of five people, so it’s quite different to my first two books. It’s mostly set in the Yorkshire Dales and it features an ageing rock star and his spoilt brat of a daughter, a naughty politician and his wife, a woman who’s not who she seems to be, and a rather gorgeous farmer—oh, and sheep. I’m hoping it will be out in February or March next year.

I can’t wait. Tell us a bit more about A Kiss from a Rose.

A Kiss from a Rose was published at the end of September. It’s the second in the Kearton Bay series, following on from There Must Be an Angel. It can be read alone, although it features characters who appeared in the first book. It’s Rose MacLean’s turn in the limelight. She’s a single mum, struggling to bring up two daughters, while working full time. The last thing she needs is the return of her mother, but events conspire to ensure that the dreaded Maisie MacLean ends up moving in with her. Maisie isn’t the most tactful mother in the world, and she’s not slow to point out that her own newly-rekindled romance with her childhood sweetheart means that she’s getting a lot more action than her daughter. Since the only man on Rose’s horizon is Flynn Pennington-Rhys, the quiet man of Kearton Bay, things don’t look like improving any time soon. But maybe there are things about Flynn that Rose doesn’t know…

Intriguing! How can readers find you?

They can buy my books from Amazon in either paperback or Kindle format.